The Amityville Horror house is among the most famous of Long Island's haunted sites.

7 haunted places on Long Island

Updated October 14, 2014 7:55 AM

The Amityville Horror house is among the most famous of Long Island's haunted sites. (Credit: Kevin P. Coughlin)

Looking for a real-life scare for Halloween? Many Long Islanders swear these haunted spots are for real, From the modern "Amityville Horror" house to a lighthouse, a Revolutionary War home, a psychiatric hospital and a rocky road in West Hills, Long Island has its share of ghostly haunts.

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Looking for a real-life scare for Halloween? Many Long Islanders swear these haunted spots are for real, From the modern "Amityville Horror" house to a lighthouse, a Revolutionary War home, a psychiatric hospital and a rocky road in West Hills, Long Island has its share of ghostly haunts.

Mount Misery

(Credit: Erin Geismar)

This area in West Hills that extends from the intersection of Route 110 and Sweet Hollow Road to Jericho Turnpike got its name because the steep hill and rocky terrain made it difficult for settlers to pass over it with a wagon.

According to legend, when early settlers bought the land from Native Americans, they were warned to stay away from Mount Misery because evil spirits were known to haunt the hill.

Long Island Paranormal Investigators claims to have found enough evidence at Mount Misery to say it is definitely haunted -- one of the few places on Long Island the group has labeled so definitively. The most compelling evidence for the group is a photograph taken of investigator Dimitri Haritos with an inexplicable illumination on his arm. The photo was taken as Haritos asked that if a spirit were present, it touch his arm. He also reported his arm feeling cold at the time. (Aug. 1, 2011)

Lake Ronkonkoma

(Credit: Brittany Wait)

The lake has been a place of haunting mystery since the mid-1660s when, according to legend, a lovesick Indian princess killed herself in the waters after her chieftain father forbade her relationship with a white settler. Some legend believers attribute the lake's high percentage of male drowning victims through the centuries to the princess's ghost claiming male lives in retaliation for her unfulfilled love. Other legends have depicted the mile-wide kettle lake as being bottomless or having underground connections to other local waterways since some victims or objects disappearing into the waters would not be found. (July 22, 2010)

Amityville Horror House

(Credit: Kevin P. Coughlin)

Thrust into the spotlight in 1974, when Ronald DeFeo, Jr. murdered 6 family members there, the "Amityville Horror" house at 108 Ocean Ave., formerly 112 Ocean Ave., was subsequently purchased by George and Kathleen Lutz, who wrote a book in 1977 about living in the house for what they described as 28 horrifying days. The book's 1979 film adaptation is considered one of the scariest horror films of all time.

Kings Park Psychiatric Center

(Credit: Newsday / Ken Sawchuk)

Kings Park Psychiatric Center, Route 25A, Kings Park, once was home to more than 9,000 mentally ill patients, and believers maintain many of them haunt the remaining grounds. The buildings were shuttered in 1993, and some structures on the property have been demolished.

Don't even think about exploring the property; it's heavily patrolled by police who will ticket you for trespassing. (2007)

Fire Island Lighthouse

(Credit: Handout)

Legend has it that when Lt. J.T. Morgan ran out of materials while constructing the current lighthouse, he used stones from the original structure to save time and money.

The lighthouse keeper, Nathaniel Smith, and his family were living nearby during the construction. Smith's daughter became ill during the winter and medical attention took three days to reach her. It was too late. Some claim that as you ascend the 182 steps to the top of the lighthouse, you can hear a man moaning for his lost daughter, and that once you reach the top, you can hear footsteps on the stairs.

Raynham Hall

(Credit: Newsday / Thomas A. Ferrara)

Now a museum that's open to the public, Raynham Hall, 20 W. Main St., Oyster Bay, dates back to the Revolutionary War, when it was home to Robert Townsend, a spy whose network supplied information to Gen. George Washington. Kerriann Flanagan Brosky, co-author of "Ghosts of Long Island," said that the main hallway of the house has produced great electrical readings and that voices have been captured on audio meters. (Sept. 29, 2000)

Katie's of Smithtown

Making its debut on Travel Channel's "Ghost Adventures," this bar claims to have poltergeists living in the basement that occasionally come upstairs and take over the whole place. The building itself is on the site of a hotel that burned down on Dec. 5, 1909, and owner Brian Karppinen believes these ghosts are the reason why all owners before him only lasted a few years each before leaving. Karppinen says that although these ghosts can be playful, a "darker element manifests." Photo credit: John Griffin

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